Half-pint Rides the Bus...

Half-pint did great this past week at school. He was really excited to ride the bus this year. The school didn't want the kindergartners to ride the bus the first day, but wanted the parents to bring them into their classroom. And the second day I wanted to take him because he was NOT going straight to his classroom, and I wanted to make sure he knew where he was supposed to go before he had to do it himself. The third day we just didn't get ready in enough time to ride the bus; but Half-pint was up early on the fourth day. An hour before we had to leave, he was getting himself breakfast, and getting himself dressed. He was pretty motivated to be ready on time to take the bus. I was a little nervous simply because I knew he didn't know anyone on his bus. We talked about what he was supposed to do when he got to school and what door he was supposed to go in. He couldn't wait for the new freedom. He did want me to drive him to the bus stop (it's about 2 blocks), but I was happy to do that, since it seems whenever we're in a hurry, little legs just seem to walk slower and I did not want to carry Quarter-pint the whole way.

We were early (since we drove) so when the bus finally arrived, Half-pint gave me a hug and marched on, finding a seat so he could see us out the window. Quarter-pint and I waited until the bus was off to the next stop and then loaded into the car and "ran an errand" to return a DVD (we really did return an overdue DVD-and Half-pint DOESN'T know we followed him). Really, I just wanted to make sure he did okay when he got off the bus. We were a few minutes behind the bus, but took a shortcut and got to school a few minutes before the bus did. He looked so big walking into school all by himself! I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to let him ride the bus that first day...almost as bad as the first day of school. (The second day of school was MUCH easier). I was a little anxious to pick him up after school to get a report of the bus ride. He was excited about it, but a little sad when no one sat by him (I really don't think the bus is even very full). So, Half-pint has been riding the bus the rest of the week. A girl sat by him yesterday, and that made him happy. On Friday morning, he was so anxious to get on the bus, I had to remind him to give me a hug!

When I picked him up on Friday, he got into the car and said "I need a school break! It's hard to go everyday!" He was relieved when I told him it was Friday and he gets two days break until Monday when he goes back. I realized he's not used to going everyday and he has been a little tired this week. Poor kid! (And NO, I haven't followed the school bus since that first bus ride...he's a champ and knows what to do when he gets to school.)